Moldova is confident it will resolve the frozen conflict in its breakaway Transnistrian region by the end of the year, Foreign Minister Andrei Stratan said in Ljubljana Friday, 18 April, Agence France Presse reports, quoted by Info-Prim Neo. "We are really optimistic that by the end of the year we will find a certain solution for the problem," Stratan told journalists after meeting his Slovenian counterpart Dimitrij Rupel. "The necessary premises exist and all the partners involved in this dialogue - Russia, the United States and the European Union - everybody is interested in finding a solution for settling the conflict," the deputy premier said. Stratan added it would probably be a satisfactory solution for Moldova: "the Russian leadership has stated on various occasions that the problem (of Transnistria) will be solved only by respecting the sovereignty and integrity of the Republic of Moldova." Rupel refused to compare Trans-Dniester with Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in February. "The E.U. considers that the Kosovo problem is 'sui generis' totally different from problems in other parts of some multi-ethnic states," he said. Moldovan Foreign Minister Andrei Stratan pays a trip to Slovenia, which currently holds the E.U.'s six-month rotating presidency.